The 2009 North Atlantic Hurricane Season A Climate Perspective

1. 2009 Seasonal Activity The 2009 Atlantic hurricane season produced nine named storms, of which three became hurricanes and two became major hurricanes (Fig. 1). The 1950-2000 averages are eleven named storms, six hurricanes, and two major hurricanes. The reduced activity during 2009 reflected fewer, shorter-lived, and generally weaker named storms when compared to most seasons since the current high activity era for Atlantic hurricanes began in 1995 (Goldenberg et al. 2001). As a result, the Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) index (Bell et al. 2000) for 2009 was 60% of the median (Fig. 2), approximately onethird of the seasonal average (165% of the median) since 1995. Based on NOAA’s classification (cpc.ncep. noaa .gov/products /out looks / background_information.shtml), this TS Claudette